The first quarter of 2021 is behind us, and we are beginning to recover from 2020, the year that changed just about everything. So what’s in store for data analytics in 2021?
My big prediction is that more businesses will begin the return to service, and they will turn to data to make strategic decisions on how to return to service. From my viewpoint, it will be the year we see the influence of the business user have a major impact on data and analytics, driven by the need to adapt quickly to the next round of changes caused by the pandemic and the economy (recovery or not).
Before the pandemic in 2020, the need for data analytics skills was predicted to grow. In late 2019, LinkedIn reported that four of the top 10 in-demand skills for 2020 were related to data analytics. Even after Covid-19 hit, LinkedIn reported that two of the top five fastest-growing skills were related to data analytics.
An MIT Sloan Management Review recently pointed out, the downturn in the recession is unlikely to diminish — and may even enhance — demand for data analytics skills within companies.
Chief data officers and chief analytics officers will face a new set of challenges from businesspeople demanding more data faster so they can turn the data into business outcomes. So how will this shape the remainder of 2021? Here are my top five trends that will dominate data analytics in 2021:
1. Visualization is a commodity.
Data visualization is everywhere and in everything, and a recent report projects that the market for visualization tools will expand from $8.85 billion last year to $19.2 billion by 2027.
Visualization is no longer reserved only for analysts. It’s now used by the data-aware employee helping to drive their organizations forward. Mary Shacklett reported on this trend, noting a manufacturer that had been trying, to no avail, to improve operational performance through a metric-gathering application, until they chose to augment the app with an embedded analytics dashboard. Her advice to companies wanting to follow suit by offering more visualization capabilities was to focus on the problems they’re trying to solve and then start simple, choosing a relatively easy-to-achieve objective.
2. Business users drive the need for on-demand data availability.
A popular saying among sales leaders and sales teams is: “Time kills all deals.” With a slight variation, the saying is applicable to the business: “Time kills all opportunities.” If it takes four months to get data to support a decision, then the opportunity is lost.
For the business to drive critical outcomes and opportunities quickly, data needs to be available quickly. It means reconsidering long-standing norms of long ETL jobs, complex data migrations and slow manual data preparation.
It also means that the wall between the business and the data needs to come down. Tech-driven departments don’t always view things the same way as other departments, and there’s some evidence, in fact, that personality types prominent in tech roles may differ significantly from those in other departments, such as marketing. In his discussion of improving collaboration between departments, Jared Atchison points to the importance of curating a culture of collaboration.
3. The need for dedicated data and analytics collaboration solutions will increase.
In 2017 CIO Magazine explored the leadership traits of successful CIOs based on the California Psychological Inventory, and noted that among the top traits were “flexibility” and “independence.” Regarding the latter, the authors emphasized that maintaining collaboration and the feedback loop was vital. In 2021, I expect to see specialist collaboration solutions appear for data and analytics teams to engage with each other and with their customers inside the business.
IT organizations made the shift from phone and email interactions to modern multichannel customer experience solutions. More than ever, IT is acting like a service provider partner. Data and analytics needs to follow IT’s lead.
4. AI-driven data storytelling and narration will improve.
Even though the old adage says that a picture is worth a thousand words, when it comes to telling a story with data, it is not always that simple. The picture from the data most often needs an explanation, and not all people have the same skills to visualize and narrate the story. Or the story can’t be told by everyone in a consistent way.
Veteran technology journalist Bob Violino discussed several best practices for data visualization earlier this year, noting that this includes knowing your audience, keeping visualizations as simple as possible and also providing platforms for your team that allow them to work on visualizations collaboratively.
This is where I expect AI will play a big role in making the explanation of answers accessible, consistent and much more engaging. If applied effectively, organizations can spend less time debating results and more time taking action.
5. A return to service will provide the ultimate test of companies’ data analytics capabilities.
California may fully open by June 15. While this will be welcomed by theme parks, cruise lines, movie theatres, casinos, concert promoters and resorts, it’s going to severely test data analytics capabilities. Questions may include:
• How do we reengage a massive supply chain that has been gathering dust for 11 months?
• How do we prioritize the return of employees by location, job, past performance, etc.?
• Can we identify and market to customers who are less risk-averse?
• How do we monitor signs of trouble in real time? (i.e., people refusing to wear masks, employees or guests who show signs of being Covid-19-positive, etc.)
The bigger challenge may not be analyzing the data — they have the talent to handle that — but in quickly getting to the data in the first place, much of which might be buried in departmental silos.
Data And Analytics Success in 2021 And Beyond
2021 is the year of the data consumer and citizen analyst inside the business. Organizations that understand and meet the data and analytics needs of these business users will be able to claim success in 2021 and beyond.
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